Rory McIlroy missed the cut in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, as did Tiger Woods after a dramatic late twist.

McIlroy's first tournament with his new Nike clubs had started with a misfiring 75 and it didn't get any better in round two as he again looked totally out of sorts in another three-over round to finish at +6.

New Nike team-mate Woods, meanwhile, looked to have fought back bravely after recovering from a horror start which saw him bogey four of his first five holes to drop to four-over.

Second round leaderboard

But shortly after Woods walked off the 18th green after thinking a 73 had left him at one-over and a shot inside the cut line, rules officials informed the 14-time major winner that he'd incurred a two-shot penalty at the fifth.

The incident, which saw him take an incorrect free drop from an embedded lie in an area deemed to be sand despite looking like thick vegetation, meant Woods' score was corrected to a 75. And that meant he too missed the cut - the first time he's suffered such a fate in a regular European Tour event

Meanwhile, at the top of the leaderboard, Justin Rose added a 69 to his opening 67 to post the halfway lead of eight-under.

The Englishman leads by one from Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain (67), Welshman Jamie Donaldson (70) and Thorbjorn Olesen (69), who all had chances to catch Rose but none of the trio could find a closing birdie at the long par five 18th.

Martin Kaymer, who partnered Woods and McIlroy, is also a threat. The three-time winner of this event carded a 69 to finish four back.

Despite shooting two shots higher, Rose felt he played better in round two, saying: "I felt like my game definitely sharpened up. When you have perfect distance control you know you are swinging it well.

"I thought it was a decent enough score to keep the momentum going. I was pin-high probably eight times, but kept leaving myself awkward distances and had to keep patient."